Through A Hyperspace Looking Glass
by gmgurp666
Summary: This is a B5 mega-crossover inspired by a table top RPG session. Starts in Voyager and goes from their.
1. Chapter 1:Through The Looking Glass

Revised it on the suygestion of Dekri. Think it might work a little bit  
better like this. Thanks for the review.

* * *

Through A Hyperspace Looking Glass Chapter 1 : Through The Looking Glass

Erwin initiated the jump into hyperspace. The vortex formed  
before his ship and he instantly knew something was wrong.  
Besides appearing to be twenty times deeper then it should  
be, it was also a flaming purple. Worst of all it was pulling him  
in.

The ship echoed his fear as they both fought to escape the  
swirling mass of energy behind them. Erwin launched a series  
of vortex disruptors into the opening, watching hopelessly as  
they were swallowed and converted to even more energy to  
feed the suction. The hyper drive had shut down immediately  
but now something else was feeding the pathway to oblivion.

Finally the forces acting on his ship overwhelmed it and they  
fell toward the gaping maw cut into the universe. Passing the  
opening he felt the duel sensation of twisting as he and the  
ship rode the currents across the barriers between realities.  
He disengaged from the ship, leaving him alone with the  
sensation. Somewhere along the way he passes out, his  
twin mind running away from a set of conflicting reports his  
nervous system kept sending him.

It had been three weeks since Captain Janeway had ordered  
Voyager away from the transwarp hub created by the Borg.  
They would have to get back on some other way, she just  
hoped they would all make it that far.

Her thoughts were interrupted by flashing red lights and Harry  
Kim's voice saying,"Red Alert, all personal to stations, Captain  
to the bridge."

Janeway headed for the door wondering what crisis would  
overtake them this week. And how many more would they  
have to face before they got home.

Stepping onto the bridge she glanced across to Harry's station  
before looking at the view screen. She could swear Harry  
shrugged in confusion but then her full attention was focused  
on what looked like a ball of purple fire in the vacuum of space.

"Unknown captain, it appeared about ten seconds ago and has  
been growing at a diminishing rate ever since. Sensors indicate  
massive subspace distortions of unknown pattern with a mix of  
exotic energies and particles we have yet to identify."

The flames began to darken and dissipate at this point to reveal  
an arrowhead shaped ship of black metal." Analysis Mr. Kim?"

Harry tapped more commands into his controls and couldn't believe  
the results,"Apparently it is a sublight craft of unknown design.  
The hull is made of some sort of energy absorbing material. Our  
sensors are having trouble penetrating it, switching to multispacial."

There was a pause and then his board started beeping,"Confirmed,  
one life sign, unconscious, human." With this last word she looked up  
at the science officer.

"Any idea if communications are still online?"

"I'm not getting any readings of a subspace radio. I don't even think  
they have the equipment, nor any communication gear I recognize."

Then his board started going crazy, he worked frantically for half  
a minute before the captain said,"Well, Harry?"

"He seems to be waking up mam, and the ship is now reading as  
alive as well. We're being targeted with a modulated tachyon pulse,  
he might be trying to communicate." He was silent for many minutes  
as he wrote new comm protocols from scratch for a form of emission  
he would not have thought usable for the task.

Finally the bridge speakers came on,"To the vessel off my port bow,  
my name is Erwin. I experienced a massive disruption of my hyper  
drive, can you render assistance?"

Janeway signaled for an open channel and spoke,"Erwin, this is the  
Federation star ship Voyager. We are prepared to offer assistance  
in any way we can. But would you be kind enough to answer a few  
questions?"

Sounding relieved he answered,"Of course, but this might work a bit  
better face to face."

"Agreed, can you dock at our port hatch."

"Certainly, be with you in a few."

The ship maneuvered sluggishly for a craft of it's size, but it was headed  
for their port side hatch. Janeway made for the turbo lift and was  
unsurprised when Tuvok followed her, sidearm present.

Once the turbo lift closed Tuvok spoke,"Do you really think it wise to let him  
on board?"

Kathryne glanced sidelong at him,"This is the first human we have  
encountered in far too long. Call me an old softy if you like, but i intend to  
be as hospitable as I can be."

Stepping out of the lift the matter was closed. They arrived at the hatch  
just in time to see the pressure indicators equalize.

As the hatch opened Kathryne thought to herself they had a monk  
coming on the ship. Then she noticed the intricate patterns, almost  
like circuit pathways woven into its surface. The visitor lowered his  
hood to reveal a head scoured clean of all hair.

"Welcome aboard Voyager. I'm Captain Janeway and this is my chief of  
security Commander Tuvok. We have so many questions for you, but  
first we require you to undergo a routine physical."

Erwin grinned slightly, but spoke when he noticed the Commander going  
for his weapon,"No, please. I meant no disrespect and understand it is  
your custom. I would just hate to think, the germ that could affect me  
would devastate an entire planet. Please, lead on captain."

Although put off a bit by his response, she decided to start a conversation,  
"You are human, but your ship doesn't match any known type, nor dose it  
seem to have any form of FTL drive. How did you get out here?"

"Well first captain it would be helpful to know exactly where and, I  
suppose, when here is. You see your ship doesn't match any Earth  
Alliance ship I have ever even heard of. Nor have I heard of a human  
group calling itself the Federation."

Janeway looked at their guest strangely,"It's stardate 54973.4."

Erwin looked at her vacantly."What year is that?"

Janeway glanced at Tuvok not believing a human could not know  
this information,"It's only a week before the end of 2377."

Erwin nearly lost it."120 years. How could it be 120 years?"

Janeway had dealt with temporally displaced people before, she  
took his arm and led him toward sick bay. As they arrived the doctor  
came out of his office and helped guide his new patient toward the  
examination table.

Scanning him the Doctor got several surprises. He turned toward the  
captain and motioned for her to step aside."He is in remarkable condition.  
There appears to have some kind of organic 'cyberware'. It's sending  
out organic nanites to repair his body."

Janeway stepped over to the control panel and activated a forcefield.  
Erwin was shaken out of his torpor and began analyzing the wall of  
energy."You have made some advancements. Energy barriers were  
the exclusive domain of the technomages in my day. You have nothing  
to fear from me."

"We have had dealings with a race that uses cybernetics, their no  
where near as advanced as yours. But they have still destroyed  
entire civilizations. We definitely need to figure out exactly where  
you came from."

"Well I suppose a place to start is to establish that I will not be taken  
prisoner." With these words the force field generators blew out."Now,  
captain understand that I was given my Tech, the cyberware you detected,  
because I voluntarially finished years of study under one of the most genial  
souls in my entire universe. We are powerful but we have no intention of  
conquering anyone. Erwin began relaying the history of his race. The wars,  
contact with the Centauri, others. More wars, and finally the coming war  
and the gathering of the mages to leave known space.

When he had finished the captain put away her weapon,"We have even  
more to discuss than I thought." And so she too launched into a recitation  
of her own history. An hour later Erwin was ready to throw in the towel.  
Not only was he in the wrong time, he was in the wrong fragging reality.

"Well captain it seems we are both a long way from home. Your lost  
among the stars and I'm on the wrong side of whatever forces keep  
realities separate."

Janeway could see the young man being crushed by the knowledge  
he may never be able to get home. In her case she at least knew she  
had a good chance of getting back to Earth in her lifetime. But this  
person in front of her was doomed to be trapped here for the rest of  
his life. Then something dawned on her,"Would it not be possible to  
reproduce the accident that sent you here?"

"Even if I knew exactly what happened, my hyperdrive core is cracked,  
molten slag. I might be able to fix it, my specialty is hyper drive physics,  
but I severely doubt you have even heard of Q-40. And without a supply  
of that I'm not going anywhere."

Janeway couldn't help but feel for the man sitting before her, his  
acceptance of the inevitable mirrored her own and that of her crew.  
She put her hand on his shoulder,"You can come with us then, the  
Federation has vast resources that may be able to help you get there.  
And we can probably learn much from each other."

He smiled and nodded, realizing the historical irony of a solitary mage  
banding together with normals for a common cause. His teacher would  
laugh at this. Alwin had stated on several occasions the importance of  
helping others, and in this case they would be helping each other. Trust  
could come later, but at least he might one day get home.

* * *

This is something inspired by a table top RPG session. It should be  
interesting to see where he ends up next. If you like it please review it.  
Even if you don't like it, please review it.

As with my other story thanks again to my wife for proofing it for me.


	2. Chapter 2: To Warp

Through A Hyperspace Looking Glass Chapter 2: To Warp

Erwin had been traveling with Voyager for two days now.  
They had given him the tour, under armed guard he noted,  
and allowed him to consult with B'Elanna on figuring out a  
way for them to go to warp and not leave him in the dust.  
After learning the equations governing warp travel, a feat  
which had only taken an hour, much to the engineers surprise,  
he pointed out that he could adjust the wave form of his  
ship to ride the back of their warp field. This got him some flak.

B'Elanna stared at the newest 'hitchhiker' to join them in  
disbelief,"And what makes you think that won't just collapse  
our warp field, leaving us stuck for two days while we bring  
the reactor back on line."

Erwin sighed, he had been expecting some resistance from  
members of the crew,"Because if I position my ship between  
your nacelles and alter the emissions of my ship to this wave  
form," he cast a hologram displaying Voyagers standard warp  
field frequency and the one he planned to generate with his  
ship, only minute differences between the two," then when  
you go to warp it should cause a slight differential to build up  
behind my ship. According to the equations you showed me,  
the imbalance will be self correcting. It should drag my ship up  
to warp right with you to correct the problem."

She looked at the hologram that had appeared with no visible  
projector and had to admit he was on to something."Lets assume  
you can do this, what if their are fluctuations on the field. The  
feedback could overload half the systems on this ship."

Erwin knew he would have to cut across her anger to get through,  
"Ms. Paris, I have no idea why you are so angry with me."Although  
he suspected it had something to do with her pregnancy."But all I  
am trying to accomplish here is to get us moving at a speed you  
are more used to. If the field fluctuates I will either adapt, or I will  
disengage before the feedback becomes resonate." He could see  
he had hit a nerve, but had no idea the history behind it.

He didn't have to wonder long."Your just as arrogant as Seven.  
You think you can pick this up in no time and be able to predict  
how it will behave on the fly. I will not risk"

He cut her off,"I have dealt with equations more complicated than  
this for most of my life. I was raised to become a technomage. Alwyn,  
my teacher, started my training when I was ten. And don't you think  
that I would ever risk the lives of innocents." he said this with a  
gesture at her unborn child.

Several seconds later he had regained enough composure to continue,  
"One last point to make and I will leave for the day. Just because I  
have implants dose not mean I am anything like the Borg. I understand  
you are angry, but don't be angry at me for things I have not done."

At this he turned and left engineering, leaving the hologram in place  
to be studied in his absence.

Visiting the mess hall was at the opposite end of the spectrum. He  
had decided his robes, with the intricate patterns, the capture of a  
hyper drive field in action, would be too imposing. Now he almost  
wished for imposed separation. Many crew members sought conversation  
with him. He had only chosen to tell the captain as much as be had  
to gain her cooperation, so he used his skills to steer the questions  
away from himself and onto things dealing with the ship. So skillful  
was he at this that people didn't even realize they were being pumped  
for information, thinking it their idea to talk about their culture and friends.

Finally he was sitting around talking when he asked one of the questions  
he had placed high on his list."Do you know why B'Elanna would have  
such a problem with me?"

Ensign Wildman looked thoughtful for a moment before saying,"It might  
have something to do with the fact that you are new. She has always  
had trouble adjusting to fresh faces. She and Seven had a general enmity  
for the longest time. And One, a Borg created due to the doctor's mobile  
emitter and some of Seven's nanoprobes merging during transport. She  
only started liking him after he demonstrated he was willing to help us."

Once again she stared off into space,"But since her and Tom got together  
she has gotten much better. She could just be tired and old habits are  
coming out again."

Suddenly she looked at the wall console and excused herself, had to go  
on duty soon.

This left Erwin almost alone in the mess hall. He turned to stare out at the  
stars and was almost surprised to have someone sit down next to him.  
Looking up he recognized the shapely blond sitting there as Seven of Nine,  
the one member of the crew he really wanted to see. His plan had not  
involved them meeting for at least two more days, but be could adjust on  
the fly with the best of them."May I help you?"

Seven looked up from her pad,"This is my normal seat. I am working."

He had met some no nonsense people in his time, but this lady took the  
cake. His senses automatically started scanning her, analyzing her cellular  
structure and her implants at the same time. As the scan finished he  
realized she was looking at him again,"If you do not desist I will be forced  
to report your actions to the captain."

Erwin held up his hand,"I apologize, I have learned to use my extra  
senses alongside my normal ones." Deciding he had defused the situation  
he continued,"Your implants are impressive for the tech level of this society.  
But I understand they were forced on you by a more advanced culture."

She did not even look up to respond,"Indeed"

He would have hoped for more but was starting to notice a pattern  
emerging."Have you ever tried asserting conscious control over your  
implants or your nanoprobes."

The questioning was getting through to her. She looked almost wistful,"Yes."

These one word responses were beginning to tax his patients."You were  
less than successful?"

He had finally gotten through,"I lacked the capability to override their  
basic functions. The nanoprobes nearly became uncontrolled." She had  
the closest thing to an emotion he had seen yet on her face. Unfortunately  
he thought it was anger.

He decided to place the bait,"What if you could have total control over all  
your cyberware? What if you could reprogram your nanoprobes on a whim?"

She looked at him with the same mask she had worn for so long,"Are you  
saying that you can give me this control?"

"Not give, but I can help you to learn to control them. I will need to make  
some adjustments to your nanoprobes and implants, but after you have  
learned to handle them you should be able to do much more with them than  
they were originally meant for."

Seven looked at him with hope in her eyes until one last thought struck her,  
"At what price?"

Erwin could not blame her,"The price will be steep. I will require regular  
conversation with you both during and after each stage of the process."  
He let the statement stand until she spoke.

"And what else?"

"Nothing." She fixed him with a look that challenged the last,"No really.  
You may not place a high value on such exchange, but I am new here  
and wish to understand more about this universe I may have no choice  
but to call home. I figure that by the time we reach the Federation I should  
be able to at least absorb enough information to not be too much of an  
outsider. But I would prefer to gain this knowledge through interaction with  
another rather than just reading some files."

Although Seven could only dimly understand his values she did grasp the fact  
that he was proposing a fair trade in his eyes."Agreed. When do you wish to  
begin?"

"Next week, after we have worked out any bugs with me hitching a ride on  
your warp field."

She stood and headed for the door,"I shall see you then."

Erwin was left with a deep sense of satisfaction, soon he would have the  
information he needed and would gain the trust of another member of the  
crew. All was going according to plan.

Entering engineering, Erwin was received by a embarrassed looking  
B'Elanna."I've been going over your data and I think it is worth a try."  
She looked toward the floor before continuing,"I would also like to apologize  
for my mistrust earlier. Perhaps I have been too cautious as of late."

Erwin softened his expression,"You have good reason to be cautious. But  
as I said yesterday I would do nothing to endanger any of you."

B'Elanna looked up at him,"I think we can be ready to try this by the end  
of the day, when can you have your ship ready to make the attempt?"

"As soon as I have made a connection to your navigational systems the  
ship will be ready. I have already made the necessary adjustments to my  
ship."

The chief engineer looked at him with some astonishment,"You have  
returned to your ship. I thought your ship had been undocked since  
yesterday."

"It has, I have a constant connection to my ship. The modifications began  
as soon as I proposed the idea." He projected a hologram of his ship over  
the workstation they were at. The smooth arrowhead shape now had  
several long, forward curving, spines protruding from it.

Paris could barely believe the ship projected before her was the same  
one that docked with Voyager only two days earlier."What are those  
spikes?"

"They will capture some of the warp energy emitted by your ship and  
retransmit it as the modified waveform." He banished the hologram and  
continued."Now all that remains is to make the adjustments here and  
establish the link so we can be on our way."

She looked at him strangely again, this time realizing his confidence did  
not stem from arrogance but a true understanding of the principles,  
"Well, why don't you give me a hand in one of the nacelles. Might help  
this to go faster."

Erwin recognized the attempt to patch up the relations that had started  
off so rocky,"Sure, need to make myself useful some how to justify all  
the time you are spending on helping me."

B'Elanna grabbed a tool kit and headed for the nearest access hatch with  
Erwin in tow. As they climbed in silence he checked another item off his list.  
He was earning their trust faster than expected, but within parameters.  
It might be a good idea to back off for a few days and give everyone a  
chance to adapt to his presence. Still getting them back to warp would  
be the first step to reassuring all parties as to his unhindering nature.

They entered the nacelle control room and he detected a faint echo from  
the other side of the bulkhead. He turned toward it when the analysis of  
a Q-40 pattern showed within his senses."Could I see what is beyond this  
door?"

"Not if you want to see the results of your idea. The plasma injection  
chamber is above five thousand kelvin and the radiation would vaporize  
an unprotected human instantly."

Erwin looked at her with that mischievous grin he sometimes used,"So  
I should be able to withstand it for a few minutes at least."

"What are you nuts, the best suits we have can only take it for a few  
dozen seconds. How do you propose to survive after that?"

"Well a force field comes to mind." He shifted part of the field he was  
forming into the visible spectrum. It glowed bright blue before he let it  
return to its normal state.

B'Elanna once again could not believe her eyes as Erwin manifested yet  
another ability,"When am I going to learn to stop underestimating you?  
If you think your safe I'll let you in, but first tell me why."

"I'm detecting a trace amount of the element I need to fix my ship. If I  
can identify which one it is in your reality I might be able to find more  
and eventually get my hyper drive back on line."

She reached over and touched the door controls,"Be quick, we still  
have more work to do."

Erwin nodded and ducked through the open door. Opening the inner  
hatch he found himself standing at the base on one of the plasma  
injectors. It spewed dozens of gallons of energetic plasma into the coil  
every minute. He walked quickly over to the nearest wall and started  
the search. He did not have long as he felt the Tech producing more  
and more energy to dump into his shield as the radiant energy in the  
room threatened to overwhelm it.

Only seconds passed before he found it. Right here in the warp coil,  
but in such low concentration he could extract all of it from the ship  
and still need more. At least he found it. He quickly exited the injection  
room to rejoin B'Elanna and his escorts.

Stepping out into the control room Paris spoke,"You have been just  
humoring the guards assigned to you haven't you?"

He shrugged,"Well, it seemed to make everyone else feel better." He  
gestured for the guards to head back to the main part of the ship. The  
guards glanced at Paris who nodded and they departed.

"So did you find what you were looking for?"

"I did. But their is a problem. We can talk about that after the test  
tonight." He gestured to the panel they had come to work on and  
they worked in silence from then on.

That night Erwin stood on the bridge focusing his attention on the  
navigational control board. He reached out his hand and sent his  
connections out to the computers, finding the ports he aligned his  
thoughts to them. He formed the equations that would link the ships  
together, a hologram of swirling patterns forming before him. As the  
patterns stabilized he released the spell and it was done. He exhaled  
turning to the astonished bridge crew,"It is done." He said walking  
away and allowing Tom Paris to retake his station.

The captain nodded to Tom to initiate warp one. Erwin monitored his  
ship as the warp energy was processed, keeping it at an exact position  
between the nacelles. They broke the light barrier with ease, leveling  
off at light speed to allow for any needed adjustments. B'Elanna and  
Erwin nodded in unison that all was good.

Janeway returned her look to the view screen,"Proceed mister Paris."

Tom dialed the engines up for warp two and was surprised to find the  
small ship still shadowing them perfectly. He glanced to his right to check  
with his wife, who glanced to Erwin before nodding for him to continue.

The process repeated all the way up to the Voyager's cruising speed.  
No anomalies were detected through the entire process, indicating the  
work was done to perfection.

As all involved became satisfied the captain rose from her chair,"Good  
work people. I would like to extend an invitation to the command crew  
and our guest to have dinner with me tonight." She nodded and headed  
for her ready room, leaving the bridge crew to handle shift change. She  
waved for Erwin to follow her.

As the door closed she whirled on him,"I understand you demonstrated  
an ability to resist any hand weapon we can carry."

Erwin looked at her calmly,"Captain, I could have tried telling you, but you  
would not have believed me. I have met many who didn't believe I could  
stop any weapon they could shoulder. They had a hard time grasping the  
concept even with a demonstration."

As understanding dawned on her, Janeway softened slightly,"Do you remember  
those Borg I told you about, they have similar shielding abilities. It makes some  
even more nervous when you show such things. I realize you have your secrets,  
but learning to trust each other may have to begin with you telling me if you find  
anything else we do to be unnecessary."

"Captain I could destroy this whole ship with me on it and never have anything  
to worry about. I would like to point out that this has been the case since shortly  
after I came on board. Finding you a friendly people I see no reason to use the  
capabilities, and therefore did not mention them. My cynicism stems from not being  
trusted most places I have gone."

"I understand we may not have been as friendly as possible and maybe we  
need to work on trust by getting to know each other better. Would you like  
to meet for lunch tomorrow so we can go about this?"

Finally getting the response he was looking for he nodded,"I would like that  
very much." he turned to leave but stopped just short of the door,"Captain  
I'm sorry I let my previous experiences color my responses to you. I will try  
to remember that you are not them." And he left.

Later at dinner he showed no sign of the conversation. The whole group took  
turns talking about their past. When it came to Erwin he had to explain some  
of the background but when he finished they all felt they understood him better.  
A lonely soul plying the space lanes in search of knowledge.

The captain raised her glass as the meal ended,"To new friends, getting to  
know each other."

"To friends." the group chimed.

After this B'Elanna spoke up,"So, what where you looking for in the injector  
bay?"

Erwin swallowed his drink and responded,"I was looking for Quantium-40.  
It is a relatively unstable element that when exposed to certain energy fields  
causes a portal to open into hyper space. A parallel dimension where distances  
are thousands of times closer. What happened to cause the accident that sent  
me here is still unknown, but if we can find more of it I may be able to get my  
ship up and running again."

"Mr. Kim why don't we try to compare our database to Erwin's sensor logs  
tomorrow to see if we can't help him find what he needs to get home."

Erwin interrupted her here,"Captain, I may be able to help you as well. As I  
said the distances are much shorter in hyper space. If we can find enough  
to repair my ship I can open a vortex that we can both pass through. Then,  
if subspace technology works in hyperspace you could be home in a few hours."

The captain looked at him with uncertainty,"What if subspace technology  
doesn't work?"

"Then we can exit hyperspace and continue at warp."

She considered him for a moment and then raised her glass again,"To hoping  
we're home in as little time as possible."

"To home"

* * *

So here it is. The second installment. Hope you like it, but just remember I'm going to move quickly. Voyager is only the first stop on his way home. Please review.

Also I would like to point out that I have turned off anonymous reviews due to some idiot ranting about how he doesn't like RPG's, B5, or Trek. I have deleted his review because of the fact that he lacked the spine to post it under a registered name, and also because he lacked the intelligence to avoid triggering the profanity filter repeatedly. I do appreciate the other feedback I have gotten, so thank you.

And as always thanks to my wife for proofing it for me.


	3. Chapter 3: The Borg

Through A Hyperspace Looking Glass Chapter 3: The Borg

Erwin had been traveling with Voyager for almost a week.  
By this time he had managed to build stable friendships with  
over half of the crew and a few much closer relations were  
forming. He was beginning to sense a romance forming with a  
red haired lieutenant in the bio-sciences lab. He felt he was  
making adequate progress on his plan, maybe a little faster  
than he was counting on, but acceptable.

He had confirmed that Q-40 was a unknown contaminant the  
crew had been unable to remove the last time they had re-coated  
the warp coils. It had shown a 5 improvement to warp field efficiency,  
which was an unexpected benefit. Since Erwin needed so much  
of it he had ask Ensign Kim to put it on the list of needed materials  
the sensors constantly scanned for. He had also identified the cause  
of the hyperspace accident as a quantum filament. His vortex had  
intersected at the right angel to cause the two to merge into a new  
phenomenon. With this information in hand he started making  
modifications to his ship to include subspace sensors and radio into  
it's already large repertoire. He was still trying to figure out how to  
get the ship to generate it's own subspace field, but the materials  
were harder to synthesize. He also had other things to occupy his time.

He walked into the converted cargo bay to see Seven of Nine waiting  
for him,"You are right on time, I appreciate that."

"I find that being punctual is often the best way to make the right impression."

"How do you wish to proceed?"

Erwin motioned for her to take a seat,"First I need to preform a deep  
scan to truly understand the full extent of your implants. This may be  
uncomfortable, since you can detect the scan. I also need to know all  
you know about the implants to allow me to ascertain their purpose."

They sat for over an hour talking as Erwin sent small doses of organelles  
into her body and used all his senses to probe her implants. He slowly  
modified the spells he needed to trigger the organelles to properly modify  
the implants.

He finalized the first spell and looked at her,"Are you ready?"

She looked nervous but nodded.

He brought up the energy and began forming it into the proper patterns  
while directing his organelles to the appropriate locations in her body. He  
then released the spell and was somewhat surprised she did not cry out  
in pain. She winced as the energy permeated her body and caused the  
organelles to go into a hyperactive state, replicating, and changing her  
implants. Finally the wave of energy subsided and her body relaxed. Erwin  
reached out to cradle her as she fell back, dazed but conscious.

"I'm sorry that was so painful, but I had to make a great many changes at  
once with the first stage. The others can be done in smaller increments, thus  
causing less pain."

She blinked as the new connections were established and she had a hole  
new interface with her implants,"What have you done?"

"I converted your cortical node into a more manageable organic form and  
removed the inhibiting functions. Then I tested the system to make sure it  
still functioned. I think you should rest, but unfortunately your alcove will no  
longer work. You are more human now than you have been since you were a  
child. I took the liberty of procuring you quarters not far from here. Let's go." He  
helped Seven to her feet and led her out of the cargo hold.

The next day Erwin was again sitting with the captain for lunch. She decided to  
start the conversation today."So I here you have modified some of Seven's implants."

"Yes."

The captain waited for a few seconds before continuing,"And what exactly is the  
end result of this whole process?"

"To give her control over her own body. I have already removed the harmful  
subroutines embedded in her implants. The next step will be to give her control  
over the other aspects of her cyberware."

"And what makes you think you can manipulate her implants without danger to her?"

"I have installed multiple fail safes to insure she will come to no harm. But honestly  
captain my knowledge of cyberware is so far beyond even that of the Borg. And the  
basic cyberware I was trained on is incorporated into my ship as it's control system."

Janeway had spent far too long talking with Erwin to believe him arrogant on these  
subjects, but it still made her uncomfortable to think of what might happen if he  
screwed up. Still she was glad to see someone finally able to help Seven."So how  
much longer will it take to finish the treatments?"

"Seventeen more and she will be a fully functional organic life form again. She will  
still have some nonstandard issue parts, but she will also have full control over her  
nanites."

Janeway nodded and returned to her meal, content in the knowledge that an expert  
was on the case. Then Erwin resumed the previous day's conversation.

Erwin reported to the bridge shortly after the sirens had started sounding. They had  
dropped out of warp suddenly as they approached a set of three huge flying cubes.  
He stepped out of the turbo lift in time to hear the Borg transmission,"We are the  
Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. Your biological and technological  
distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is futile."

"Intimidating aren't they" He said, taking up position beside they tactical officer.

"They have good reason to be. We may have to run for it." The captain sounded very  
unhappy about turning tail in front of their new friend.

Erwin reviewed the various information he had absorbed about the Borg ships they  
were facing. The cube was no simple opponent, but with respect, they could be facing  
their tactical brothers. Compared to Voyager the standard cube was probably a truly  
formidable advisory, three of them was just too much to even consider. For Voyager  
that is.

"Captain, could you please return me to my ship? And then keep one of them distracted  
while I deal with the other two."

Janeway looked at him for a few seconds before remembering who was making the  
request,"Good luck." She nodded to Harry who initiated the transporter.

Erwin reappeared on his ship and immediately raised his own deffences, augmented by  
the subspace technology he had recently added. The ship's signature distorted to almost  
nothing as he released all of the excess subspace energy his ship had built up while  
sitting still.

The distorted image shot toward one of the cubes at six times the speed of light,  
penetrating it's outer skin with ease before the warp field collapsed. This left Erwin's  
ship in a large open space within the cube and he started firing plasma bolts in all  
directions, slowly chewing his way out. Striking a primary power conduit the cube, already  
cratered by the super luminary impact, exploded only twenty seconds after the engagement  
started.

The distorted black shape streaked out of the fireball, headed toward the other ship that  
Voyager was not engaging. Lacking the subspace energy to repeat the maneuver that so  
damaged the first cube, Erwin decided to borrow a maneuver from the Minbari. He initiated  
a skin dance, coming to within half a meter of the Borg hull. He unleashed a myriad of plasma  
and lightning bolts to overload the systems just beneath the surface. The charge arced into  
the cube and caused more damage as biological systems burned out and the technological  
systems they were controlling failed. Finally a stray electrical bolt raced into a reactor core  
and caused a catastrophic failure in the containment system. The cube was rocked by a series  
of explosions that chased around the interior until the structural integrity failed and the cube  
flew apart as Erwin pulled away in a steep bank.

This left the final cube Voyager was struggling to avoid. Erwin turned his attention to this last  
opponent, pushing his engines to full to catch up to the receding combatants.

Overtaking the cube he fired a newly formulated subspace field disruptor, causing the Borg  
ship to stop cold. With it's ability to maneuver gone he fired an insane number of bolts into it's  
surface. The hole boring deeper into it's symmetry, causing even more of it's defenses to fail as  
the were vaporized or shorted. The eventual result was the same as the other two, with Voyager  
adding even more fire to the equation. The solution was for the final of the Borg vessel to come  
apart as the structure overloaded.

With the battle over Erwin began flying through the debris fields, tractoring certain bits into his  
ship. While he was still busy at this he received a hail,"Would you like to get out of here before  
more show up?"

"In a moment, I'm trying to get some needed materials. During the battle I detected a strong  
Q-40 signature from the Borg transwarp coils. I also think I might be able to adapt one  
of them to my ship."

"Well we have detected more of them on the way, so we would like to get out of here."

"On my way captain." Erwin resumed his normal position between Voyager's nacelles and  
aligned to the warp field,"Ready." and they were gone long before the reinforcements  
showed up.

Once again on the bridge of Voyager Erwin received a brief round of applause from the crew  
which drew from him a theatric bow in thanks. Then he walked to the railing and addressed  
the captain,"If I may excuse myself, I am about to be late for an appointment."

Janeway could hardly believe he was still concerned about being punctual after saving the  
ship, then it dawned on who he was going to meet,"Of course, she might be a little upset  
if you're late. But first thing tomorrow I have some questions for you on that battle."

With that he bowed again and swept off the bridge.

Arriving at Sevens quarters he touched the the keypad to announce his presence. The  
reply was delayed but eventually the door opened to review Seven in an evening dress,  
"I'm sorry I didn't know you were expecting company, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Actually I was hoping we could try a double date as it is known. I have taken the liberty  
of inviting Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Andrews to dinner. I hope you don't mind."

Erwin found the whole set up pleasantly surprising but was relieved to find her exploring  
her newly unfettered emotions,"Of course, I would love to have dinner. Need to replenish  
my strength after that fight. But how did you know I would like Andria to come to dinner?"

Seven smiled in a way that made him sure the answer would be embarrassing,"Never  
mind. I'm just glad you did. When are they expected?"

His question was answered by the other two coming into the corridor from opposite ends.  
Chakotay was wearing a semi formal suit of all black while Andria was wearing a beautiful  
green dress, the same color as her breath taking eyes. They all entered Seven's quarters  
and began a relaxing evening.

The next day Erwin was almost late for his morning appointment with the captain. He  
entered her quarters with a slight smile from the previous evenings events."Good morning  
captain."

"Good morning, please sit." She had prepared a light breakfast of fruit brought from the  
aeroponics bay.

He sat and started picking fruit off of the various platters. As he sat back he started the  
conversation,"So captain, to what do I owe the pleasure of this wonderful breakfast?"

She took another bite and said,"I was just wondering how you managed to accomplish  
the single handed destruction of two cubes?"

"First I used the stored warp energy to thrust into the heart of the cube and blast my  
way out. Then I used a trick called skin dancing I borrowed from a race called the Minbari.  
This involves flying as close as possible to the target to make it almost impossible to  
miss them, while making it hard to be hit in return. I also kept them from adapting by  
throwing a new attack at them on the second cube. With the third cube I simply used  
a variant of another tool to destabilize their warp field and then both ships just hammered  
them into nothingness."

"And then you were scavenging transwarp coils,"

"As I explained I found a high concentration of Quantium-40 in the coils. And while most  
of them are damaged beyond repair, I was hoping to keep one of them for use in my ship.  
That would give you four to help boost your ships performance."

Janeway look somewhat astonished at the offer of four transwarp coils. The fact that it  
had taken them nearly loosing a number of the crew just to steal the first one caused  
this number to weigh heavily on her mind. That many would let them clear most of the  
remaining distance to home before they burned out."That's very generous." was all  
she could say.

Erwin noticed her dilemma and continued, saving the best for last,"It also looks like I  
will be able to build a new core for my hyper drive, so you may be able to return with  
all those coils to be studied by the federation and perfected into a stable transwarp  
technology."

Janeway regained her composure enough to ask,"How long before you can be ready?"

"In a day or so, it really depends on how hard it is to extract the Q-40. The process is  
already proceeding faster than I expected due to the fact that it was already refined for  
use in their transwarp technology. It appears they use it to shift their ships slightly out  
of this reality. It is similar to my hyperspace tech but to a lesser extent, that explains why  
they use so much of it. But the process they use is inefficient, causing the coils to burn out  
after a while."

She once again was reminded of the shear depth of the mind sitting across from her,"Is  
there anything we need to do to prepare for hyperspace travel?"

"Not really, but I do have to admit a certain hope that this won't work. I have made so  
many friends that it saddens me somewhat to leave them all. Especially one of them."

They continued to eat in silence and finally ended the meal a few minutes later.

Once again Erwin knew he was progressing toward his eventual goal, but now felt that  
reaching it would cost him all the relationships he had formed. The problem could be  
easily solved but he was unsure of the risks involved in taking another with him when  
he left this reality to return home. He was not even sure he would actually get home  
with the next jump. All this was still running through his mind as he reached Andria's  
quarters. The Lieutenant had the day off and Erwin had cleared his calender for the day.  
They had scheduled some time on the holodeck, he only hoped that it would distract him.

* * *

I would like to thank ass those who are offering constructive criticism. It is a major part of keeping this kind of thing going.

And may I also apologize to those of you that enjoy this story. It appears that some others do not and in their ignorant anger they find it difficult to offer helpful suggestions. They must also not realize the futility of flaming, and with their limited vocabulary may offend some readers. They may be as beyond my control as I am beyond theirs, but I would ask for more intelligent responses from these individuals.

And as always, thanks to my wife for proofing this for me.


	4. Chapter 4: Homecoming

Through A Hyperspace Looking Glass Chapter 4: Homecoming

Erwin had been with Voyager for ten days, ten days since he had  
had the most unlucky accident possible with a hyper drive. Since he  
had met all these people, so trusting, so nice, so removed from  
their home. Then he had started trying to get out of here, manipulating  
people only as much as he needed to. Now he was ready, but he  
found himself unable to leave. Because of her.

Andria was the one person he had truly connected with on Voyager.  
The first person he had felt this way toward in a long time. He had  
shared with her a part of himself he thought was unreachable. After  
Sharon he had shut it away, she had hurt him so deeply. He was  
certainly not looking for this to happen, but all the gods of chance  
seemed to be conspiring against him to force an understanding of  
the universe on him that he did not feel ready for.

As he reflected on this he was reminded of the central axiom of his  
order,"We pride ourselves on knowing all that can be known, and  
most of the rest." He now knew some of the rest. And that knowledge  
bound him to these people in ways he had never planned for.

He had finally decided to ask her if she wanted to come along, dinner  
seemed the best time for this. He was headed there now with a bottle  
of wine he had gotten from Tom. He had been forced into promising Paris  
a ride in his ship to acquire the wine, but felt it worth it.

He pressed the chime at Andria's door and was surprised again to find  
her in a Greek style wrap, composed of a fabric with the look of neon  
green fog. He appreciated the effect of barely concealing her assets, of  
which she had plenty. He stepped in and embraced her before handing  
the bottle over,"That outfit is something else, and what is that scent  
called. No let me guess." He placed his hand on his chin pensively as  
he grinned wickedly."If I was the one to market it I would call it 'Justifiable  
Rape'. You shouldn't have." He picked at her because he knew she enjoyed  
it, and he found her smile all too encouraging.

She placed her hands on her hips and grinned,"Actually I think it is called  
Moonlight Breeze, and I got them both on that third planet I showed you.  
Never could remember the name of that place." They laughed together at  
the byplay,"Dinner is ready, hope you like it. It is a dish we picked up on  
the same world, kind of a fruit goulash. It is rather good, but takes a while  
to prepare. It can also be rather finicky, so they say you should only make  
it for special occasions." She seemed to trail off here and hid her face while  
setting the table.

Erwin walked up behind Andria and wrapped his arms around her waist,  
"What is it?" He said into her hair.

"You'll be leaving soon won't you? Now that your ship is fixed."

He led her over to the couch and they sat facing each other."I will be  
ready to go as soon as I help Voyager get back to the alpha quadrant.  
That doesn't mean I have to shove off as soon as we get there."

"But you won't stay long, and then you won't be back."

"Not if I can help it, the only way for me to get home is to either jump  
right back there or keep jumping until I find a technology that can get  
me there." He could see the pain on her face at her words, deciding now  
was the only chance he would get."But that doesn't mean you can't come  
with me. In the short time since you tried to incinerate me"

"Incinerate!?"

"Well you did lose control of a plasma shunt that decided I looked like a  
port. I consider that trying to incinerate me."

She smiled slightly,"Luckily you were able to gain control of it. I'm a  
geneticist not an engineer. But back to the first part. Do you really  
mean that?"

He held her shoulders and looked into her eyes,"I want you to really  
think about this. The same thing applies if you go with me, it is still  
a one way trip. No coming back, no changing your mind, no" Whatever  
the last no was he forgot as an overjoyed redhead leaped forward  
and tried to smother him. He did not resist of course,the assault being  
all the answer he needed.

The next morning he found himself once again waking up in Andria's bed,  
with the single exception that unlike the other times she was not there.  
He sat up as she came rushing in, zipping up her tunic with a croissant  
stuffed in her mouth. She quickly swallowed,"I thought you were going  
to sleep all day. And on the Big day no less." She leaned over and kissed  
him, almost loosing her balance as she got into it.

Erwin caught her and held on until they were finished, then helped her  
right herself and got out of bed as well."Not quiet. Just a little sore from  
last night, and the better part of the morning." They grinned at each other.

"Still, I have to get going. And you should as well, the hyperspace jump is  
only two hours away." She gave him a peck on the cheek and was gone.  
He found the plate left for him and had breakfast before getting dressed  
and leaving for the bridge.

Erwin stood on the bridge next to the tactical station, he focused his  
thoughts and his robes glowed. Every line shimmered a dull blue and  
started shifting over the surface of the fabric. His ship projected the  
energy into a spacial distortion that deepened into a rift that finally  
opened into a hyperspace vortex. An orange particle flow marked the  
boundaries of the pathway into hyper space.

Erwin looked up,"We can proceed now captain."

Voyager flew into the jump point, followed by Erwin's ship. Both ships  
vanished in a flash of light and the jump point collapsed behind them.  
Emerging into the swirling redness of hyper space they assumed their  
normal orientation while calibrating sensors to the new environment.  
Erwin was immediately surprised by the weakness of the gravitational  
incline, compared to his home universe this was much easier to adjust  
for. The subspace fields were once again aligned, preparing both vessels  
for the hopefully short journey to the alpha quadrant.

Erwin examined the field interaction with hyperspace, checking for any  
anomalies. When he found none he checked again. Still nothing showed  
up, he decided to forgo recalibrating his sensors again,"Captain, my ship  
is ready, but I think it would be prudent to limit ourselves to warp three  
until we calibrate the distance calculations."

B'Elanna agreed and the engines were brought to the necessary power  
levels. Both ships rode smoothly at warp three for two hours. Then the  
ships slowed and Erwin again summoned the vortex to let them return  
to normal space.

A quick position fix later and they were back at it. Each time they stopped  
they found their distance traveled was 15369 times what their guidance  
system said it should be. Upon returning to hyperspace they increased  
their warp speed by one and let the ship travel for an additional hour.  
They would be on the edges of the alpha quadrant by evening, and at  
earth by morning.

The crew was cheerfully expectant, anticipating their return to family and  
friends. Many of them had changed so much in the seven years since they  
had disappeared, and while they had been able to pass messages back  
and forth, it would still be good to be home.

The Captain had decided to make their return a surprise to Starfleet, just  
wanting to see the look on all those admiral's faces when she hailed Starfleet  
Command directly.

Erwin still had a few loose ends to tie up, including finishing Seven's treatments.  
Then he would be ready to begin what he suspected would be an even longer  
journey than Voyager's. But he would not be alone, a sensation he had only  
known occasionally through the years. He had become truly attached to her,  
maybe even enough to propose. But the first thing he had learned as a 'mage  
was to be patient. They would be traveling together for some time, and getting  
to know each other better every day. That night he and Andria went to the  
captains quarters for dinner. The captain served roast beef with appropriate  
vegetables. After the first few bites the captain raised her glass,"To the man  
of the hour. Thanks for getting us all home so soon." They clinked glasses and  
sipped. After setting her glass down she looked at Andrews,"So have you decided  
whether your going with him when he leaves?"

Andria looked confused,"How did you know he had asked?"

"Your devision head said you showed up for duty beaming like a school girl just  
before the dance. It didn't take much to put the rest together. So what did you  
decide?"

"I'm going with him ma'am. I don't have anyone back home, and all that I have  
to look forward to is another deployment. Maybe I hit the deep range, or get stuck  
at some research station cataloging all the samples we are taking back. This is a  
chance to see the multiverse. Even if we run into humans they won't be the same.  
For an explorer it is the ultimate chance, and I get to do it with him." She smiled  
and took Erwin's hand. He smiled back and kissed her it.

"Well I wish you the best. The way you talk about this makes it so tempting."  
Kathryne could see how happy she was. Erwin had that effect on people, once  
you got to know him.

Dinner progressed with mundane conversation punctuated with laughter. When  
they left for the night Janeway understood fully the allure Erwin had for the crew.  
He was charismatic and funny, with enough of a novelty to keep him from being  
cliche. She felt her life might lose some of the magic when he was gone. He said  
what he did was just an extension of science, but he did do magic. He had magically  
restored hope to all their lives, most of all Seven's. Kathryne could almost not believe  
the changes in her student. In the last week she had become so emotional it had  
worried Janeway that she might explode. Then she had balanced out, maybe that  
was Erwin's influence, but she expected it had more to do with her and Chakotay  
getting together.

All things considered life was good.

Coming out of hyperspace, Voyager immediately started hailing Starfleet Command.  
The surprise of having a massive distortion field appear near the asteroid belt  
followed by the unexpected hail put everyone at Starfleet Command on edge.  
It took several hours of explaining to finally calm everyone down enough for  
Voyager to be welcomed home.

The antimatter fireworks show was dazzling, spreading across the whole system  
as Voyager did a low altitude flyover of San Francisco with a small black craft flying  
close formation to them.

Erwin was given a hero's welcome by the President followed by the presentation  
of the keys to the planet. All this interested Erwin very little, but he went along to  
keep from ruffling any feathers. When the day was over he and Andria went to the  
quarters prepared for him.

She was slipping out of her uniform,"You know a girl could get used to all this  
attention." her smile conveyed the sarcasm her voice lacked.

"I know what you mean, all the hand shaking and cheering. For a guy raised to  
avoid notice, I feel totally naked out there."

She walked over to him and leaned in close."Well, why don't you get how you  
feel and we can see about helping to relieve some of that tension." She walked  
toward the bedroom with a sway of her hips that made the statuesque redhead  
the most sensual sight he had ever beheld. Loosening his collar he headed for  
the bedroom.

A week later he had finished tying up all of his loose ends. Erwin had spent  
some time with Starfleet R & D exchanging technologies. Then he had spent  
a day with Seven and Chakotay going over her progress and administering  
the last treatment. Then B'Elanna had went into labor. Erwin and Andria  
spent the day at the hospital, finally being rewarded with the heavenly smile  
of the baby girl.

Finally the scans had come back, reporting a quantum filament forming near  
the Vulcan system. They were headed to the secluded landing pad where his  
ship was parked, Andria was wearing a dark green jumpsuit with burgundy  
trim, Erwin in his casual black suit.

On approach they could see several people standing near his ship, despite  
his desire to slip away quietly the display comforted him. He opened several  
packages he was planning on sending back with the pilot to be delivered later.  
He could just give them in person.

The small shuttle touched down and the side hatched opened revealing the  
exact identity of the gathered friends. Andria swung her duffel bag onto he  
shoulder and followed Erwin out. First they came to Naomi Wildman and her  
mother. The small girl held out a photo album,"We put together this album  
for you. It is a few pictures to help remind you of us."

Erwin knelt down to look Naomi in the eyes. He reached out with one hand  
to take the album and with the other presented the child with a crystal in a  
gold setting on a gold chain. The gem was an inch long oval the same color  
as her eyes. They exchanged gifts,"As long as you carry this, no matter how  
far apart, all of you will still be family. Simply speak the name of the person  
you want to talk to three times and they will hear you." He snaked the chain  
around the stone in her palm. She hugged him and stepped back.

Erwin stood and handed another to Naomi's mother, once again matching her  
eyes. They nodded to each other and he moved on.

Next was Tom Paris, standing alone,"Sorry B'Elanna couldn't make it, but she  
insisted one of us be here to see you off." Tom stepped forward and extended  
his hand, Erwin shook it,"Thanks for getting us all home.'

Erwin nodded,"No problem." He handed over a package containing three more  
crystals,"These are for you two and the baby." Tom took them and stepped aside.

Erwin continued to the next two, Seven and Chakotay standing arm in arm. As  
he approached Chakotay extended his hand and Erwin took it,"Thanks for all  
your help." He inclined his head toward Seven to indicate his meaning. She  
released herself from his arm and walked toward Erwin. She leaned into him  
and gave him a peck on the cheek,"Thanks for everything." Then she returned  
to her fiancée.

Erwin handed over two more crystals, speaking to Seven,"Yours has some  
extra features, including information on the wedding presents I got for you."  
She took hers and let Chakotay fasten it around her neck before accessing  
it. Her eyes got distant for a moment and then refocused on Erwin.

She looked shocked and then smiled, nodding.

Erwin proceeded to the last person. Janeway stood there as if she was not  
quiet sure what to feel. He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder,  
"You don't have to say it, I know." She smiled and he handed over the largest  
of the packages,"That contains one for you and some for others I met while  
on board. Would you please deliver them for me?"

She held the package and nodded. Erwin took a few steps past her and  
turned waiting for Andria to finish saying goodbye to her captain. When  
she joined him, in that final moment of goodbye, he felt the turmoil around  
him and simply nodded his last farewell.

Then he turned and entered his ship. The hatch sealed behind him and the  
again smooth arrowhead lifted, angeling slowly up as it climbed.

The small group of friends then drifted off in their separate directions. The  
Wildmans walked toward the shuttle, Tom activated a personal transporter  
and Seven and Chakotay headed for the ship they had come in. Kathryne  
stood there, realizing that even though he was gone, the magic he had  
created would always be with them.

Erwin exited hyperspace and found what he was looking for, a long concentration  
of quantum energy running off toward the bottom edge of the system. He also  
noticed the small fleet of science vessels waiting to record all they could of the  
event. He strapped in next to Andria before activating the hyper drive.

The energy reacted violently and soon a hollow purple tendril of energy was  
reaching for his ship. He pointed his nose at it and dove into the anomaly. His  
ship disappeared, entering the space between spaces and shortly after the  
vortex collapsed.

* * *

Well they finally got home. Hope you liked it

Thanks to my wife for proofing.

Fixed the name fumble, mix up with one of my original work projects.

Also, I started a Forum with 4 categories,one for each story, where I'll answer any questions I can without spoiling things. Please continue to post reviews and I will respond there. Or post questions there and I will reply.


	5. Chapter 5: The Doctor

Through A Hyperspace Looking Glass Chapter 5: The Doctor

Erwin screamed and collapsed, falling unconscious as the pain overwhelmed his nervous system. He lay limply in the harness, unresponsive to the world. Andria fared little better, this being her first time experiencing the strains of inter universal travel.

As she recovered she reached over and lifted his head, a small trickle of blood running out each of his ears. She was worried because nothing he had told her included him bleeding after a howling scream. He groaned and shifted,"Urgh, remind me not to do that again." He hit the release and tumbled out onto the floor.

Andria extracted herself from the straps and tried to stand, falling next to him as her unsteady legs gave out. She waited a few moments to allow the feeling to fade."What happened to you? You didn't say it was that painful."

"I decided to stay connected to the ship to help regulate the feedback." He grabbed his head as speaking caused more pain. "The signals overloaded most of my senses, and I think I may have burned out a few neurons."

"Will you be alright?" She look concerned as she raised up to see his eyes.

"Yeah, the damage is almost repaired." He rolled to his knees and stayed there until he started to feel normal again."Unfortunately the ship didn't fare as well. I managed to divert most of the energy to other systems. Unfortunately there was more than enough energy to go around, damaging almost every component. It should take around three days to finish the repairs."

"Is there any good news?"

"Nothing was destroyed, even the hyper drive is still usable, once the repairs finish. I should feel more alive in a few hours."

Andria looked relieved by this news,"Well, in that case why don't we see about getting some rest on a softer surface than this." She knocked on the floor.

They used each other to steady as they made their way slowly to the bed. Collapsing onto the soft material they curled up and fell asleep holding each other.

The Doctor had never seen anything like this. The small black ship had emerged from an unknown anomaly half an hour ago and was just drifting through space, most systems apparently off line. The two humans on the strange vessel were alive, but unconscious. One of them seemed to have experienced major neurological stress, and they both appeared to have suffered some sort of physical strain.

He would have to drop in for a chat when then were awake again.

Erwin's eyes opened as the sensors came back on line and reported an object in close proximity to the ship. He gently stroked Andria's hair to rouse her. She snuggled into him and resisted his efforts. He ran his hand down to her chest and she moaned, her eyes opening,"You must be feeling better."

"I am, but not right now. The sensors have picked something up, an object holding position near us."

"Well, should we dress?" She slipped out from under the sheets and grabbed the small bag of things she had brought. She held up the wrap she had worn for him once and a darker green dress.

"I have no idea, my regular sensors are showing nothing but a wooden box, and the subspace add ons are having trouble locking on to the interior. They must have gotten knocked around in the transition because they say it is huge inside."

"Can I see it?" She asked.

"Sure." He waved and the walls appeared to dissolve as a hologram of the surrounding space filled the compartment. He gestured at the small blue box and the image magnified, a superimposed wire frame showed the subspace data.

She looked at it for several minutes,"Any ideas?"

"Nope, I could try hailing it, but I don't know what kind of comm gear it has."

"Any life signs?"

"One, humanoid, but not human. Genetic structure is much more complex, and he appears to have two hearts." He was cut off by a burst of static washing over the subspace readings as the visual return faded from view.

Then they heard a sound like the universe rearranging itself, and a light started flashing in front of them. They stepped back as the blue box materialized before them, what was obviously the front facing in their direction.

There was a loud gong sound and the light on top of the thing stopped flashing.

Erwin projected a shield in front of them and readied an attack spell. He had no idea what to expect, this person obviously had advanced technology. Whether this included weapons tech remained to be seen.

The door opened and a man in his mid thirties poked his head out,"Hello!" The man said ecstatically with a British accent, a huge grin on his face.

"Hello." Erwin replied,"Who are you?"

He stepped out and carefully closed the door behind him. He was of average height with a wirery build, wearing a blue suit and sneakers."Right, sorry."His demeanor changed as it dawned on him he was freaking them out."I'm The Doctor. And you are?"

"My name is Erwin, and this is my companion Andria."

The Doctor stepped right to the edge of the shield,"It's a pleasure to meet you. You know, I've never meet a purely biological species capable of projecting it's own energy fields like that."

Erwin look slightly perplexed but lowered the shield."My people call themselves Technomages, perhaps you've heard of us?"

The Doctor turned and started pacing as he thought,"Technomages? Technomages?" He stopped and turned toward them, perfectly resuming his place before he's box."No sorry, should I have?"

Erwin could not believe the eccentric behavior in one so young. Then he chided himself for assuming this guy had an even remotely human life cycle."Could you tell me what the date it is?"

"By Earth reckoning it is the year,"He checked his wristwatch,"One billion, six hundred thirty-two million, four hundred seven thousand, four. January third."

Erwin had several thoughts at this answer:  
1. What the frag is up with this guy?  
2. What the frag is up with his watch?  
3. What the frag is up with the year?

Andria was unfortunately still in shock from the word billion being included in a date.

Erwin recovered first,"I think we're a little out of our time. We come from the early two thousands."

"Let's try a little bit out of your reality. You more than her of course. So why don't you start at the beginning."

Erwin decided to stop being surprised by anything this man said,"How do you know we don't belong here?"

"You both have small amounts of void stuff." At the blank stairs he continued,"The void is the space between spaces, kind of a somewhere that is nowhere." He started talking with his hands,"All of the parallel realities of the multi verse are stacked up against one another and the minuscule infinity between them is called the void. It's a timeless place where distance takes on several meanings. Traveling between two realities causes you to pass through the void and you pick up some void stuff, kind of like a harmless radiation." He pointed,"Now you have twice as much as her so that leads me to believe you have been at this twice as long."

"Actually, your right. This was my second jump and her first." This was exactly what Erwin suspected he made others feel like when he displayed his considerable intellect. He now knew what it meant to be hopelessly outclassed and it stood as a challenge to improve himself.

"I see, that also explains the low levels of void stuff on you. What form of technology are you using for this jumping? I've never seen anything like it."

They sat and Erwin explained about what had happened to get him this far. Then The Doctor spoke,"That makes sense actually. What you call a Quantum Filament is the precursor to a breach forming between realities. They are rare in this reality, but not totally absent. Shortly after the beginning of time the Time Lords set up a system to negate such breaches from forming naturally. The only way they form anymore is artificially, this usually causes them to be short lived, as the breach they proceed opens shortly after."

"So even if we could find one, it would be gone before we could get close enough to use it."

"Unfortunately, yes. But you may be able to use a full breach to get to a reality where the Time Lords never established the net."

"So where are these breaches?"

"Mostly in some enemy's territory. They are the only ones willing to experiment with such technology. But there might be another way."

"What about the Time Lords, maybe they could open a small gap in the net to allow one to form and then close it after we leave."

The Doctor's face darkened,"You can't ask them."

"Why not?"

"I'm the last."

Andria stepped forward, responding to the pain filled emotions of their guest. She placed her hand on his shoulder,"I'm sorry. We didn't know. How did it happen?"

It was The Doctor's turn to explain his past. The war, and all the little battles since. All the people he cared about, taken from him by the returning threat of the Daleks.

Erwin could understand his feelings, the 'mages had lost a few here and there. But to loose an entire species of the most brilliant minds in the entire universe. It would have have driven most people to madness and vengeance, but this being appeared calm, he just liked talking fast.

When The Doctor finished he looked his whole age, the burdens of over nine hundred years all crushing down at once. Then it was gone and the flamboyant Time Lord was back." So, I think there is a way to get you out of here. But we need to see some friends of mine."

"How far is it, we can clear distance pretty fast."

The Doctor grinned,"It's not really a matter of distance. We need to go to Earth, in the first few years of the twentieths century."

"I wasn't aware time travel was possible."

"It is, and we can get there in a few hours, if you will just come in my ship." He snapped his fingers and the doors of the blue box opened to reveal a cavernous space. Organic pillars surrounded a chaotic circular control station.

Stepping over the threshold of the ship Erwin clutched his head and fell to the floor screaming. Andria ran to him and tried to move his head to her lap, but he was curling into fetal position. The Doctor pulled out his stethoscope and sonic screwdriver, scanning Erwin from head to toe."His tachyon link has just experienced a huge lag. The difference in data rates has totally destabilized his consciousness." he ran toward the control console and started flipping switches,"I have to set up a relay before his autonomic systems are overloaded."

He typed furiously and then hooked up several cables to connect different systems directly. Erwin's body relaxed and Andria was able to uncoil him into a more restful position."Is he going to be alright?"

The Doctor examined him again and breathed a sigh of relief,"He should be fine. But I do not envy him the headache he will have when he wakes up."

Andria slowly stroked Erwin's head, scoured clean of all hair as it was."What happened? You mentioned a lag in his tachyon link. How is that possible?"

"My ship, the TARDIS, physically exists many millions of light years away from the projected facade of it's interface. When he stepped through that door, he was suddenly beyond the standard range of his link. It's like running two networked processors in parallel. They both balance the lag to keep the information synchronous. Suddenly the lag became unbalancable, and he had no time to react to the change."

Andria understood enough of the explanation to get the idea of how much more advanced this Doctor was. She looked down at Erwin and was relieved to see his eyes opening,"Are you okay?"

He rubbed his temples,"Ask me that after I figure out how it's done. Cause my head will probably explode when I figure it out."

The Doctor chuckled,"I doubt that, but it almost happened this time. Do you mind telling me why you keep a constant FTL link to your ship?"

Erwin sat up, still groggy,"Because it's part of me. The central control system was my original training gear. Just as you are connected to your ship."

The Doctor nodded,"But my connection won't try to kill me just because I get out of range, not that it's actually possible to do so."

"Just different techs interacting. I'm not supposed to be able to get that far away that fast. Usually the lag balances in real time because of the link being FTL. And it tried to, that's what hurt so much. The tech in my own body and that on my ship both increased power output exponentially."

"And it nearly burned them both out, and would have taken your nervous system with them."

Erwin tried to stand, managing it with Andria's help,"Yep. I just didn't expect the interface to be teleportave in nature. Most ways I could have thought of doing this would have involved folding space to dilate the dimensions. In order to make the transition so seamless, you must have a massing computer handling it."

The Doctor gestured toward the center of the control room." The heart of the TARDIS. A central control console designed to allow navigation in both space and time. It would usually take six Time Lords to properly operate all the controls, with which you could land this thing on any square centimeter, at and split second, in the universe."

"And with just you?"

"Well , we'll get close."

Erwin and Andria looked at each other and a dual shadow of fear passed between them as the insanity of what this man was saying sunk in. Close, in the terms he was talking about could involve a massive difference in both space and time. The Doctor noted this exchange and laughed,"Oh, lighten up. We'll be on the right planet, probably within a few miles of our destination. And we should show up within a week or two of the last time I was there."

Realizing that this might be their only way of continuing the journey toward Erwin's home reality they both shrugged and resigned themselves to the inevitable."So, what can we do to help?"

"Can you make your ship any smaller? I have a room that it will fit in, if you can just trim a few inches off the nose and wings."

Erwin adjusted his thoughts slightly and made the necessary changes."Done, how do you intend to get it in. I know that the blue box outside is just a disguise, but my ship is rather large compared to this room alone."

"Thats the great thing about the TARDIS, it just disappears here and reappears there."He flipped several controls and that horrible sound of space itself complaining started again. Then it stopped with that loud clang again."Okay, now with your ship safely on board, we can get going to Earth," He spun a dial,"Cardiff" He moved a lever and hit several buttons,"2009" He spun a wheel and stopped it suddenly. Then twisted a nob and lifted a lever. His actions after this were chaotic, in a rock concert kind of way. He would jump to a control and manipulate it for a second and a half, then he would seem to teleport to the other side and do the same.

Erwin and Andria barely had enough attention to spare for this though, as they were holding onto anything within reach, including each other, while the floor seemed to tip from side to side. Finally The Doctor hit one final control and they stopped."Here we are, Earth, Cardiff, January 3rd, 2009."

"And just who are these friends of your's?"

"Just a little bunch that like to call themselves Torchwood." He grabbed his coat and headed for the door, Erwin and Andria following. He reached the doors and flung them open, quickly being grabbed by the shirt and slammed against the door frame.

As his vision cleared he said,"Hi, Jack."

---oooOOOooo---

Sorry about any confusion, had to change my page break. Just to clear the air, this is a B 5 crossover, it won't end until Erwin gets home.

Thanks to my wife for proofing this for me.

PS: Well it looks like Samael3 strikes again, getting yet another one of his cronies to waist energy being blocked.


	6. Chapter 6: Torchwood

Through a Hyperspace Looking glass, Chapter 6: Torchwood

Captain Jack Harkness, Commander of Torchwood Cardiff, born in the 51st century, and universal fact, sat behind his desk wondering how much more screwed up this month could be. First John came back, attempting to kill his whole team and spreading chaos in his wake. Then Grey, the lost brother, had returned. He had been pissed too, burying Jack for nearly two thousand years so he could die, resurrect and die over and over again. Add to that, he lost Owen and Toshiko during that shit storm Grey forced John to cause.

Of all the things that could happen next it had to be the Daleks stealing a butt load of planets, including Earth, to make yet another dooms day device. That had been when 'He' had come back. The Doctor had come back, as usual, just in time to save the day. And that companion of his, Donna Nobel, had become some sort of hybrid. A human with the knowledge of a Time Lord.

But why had he left her on earth with he memory wiped? She had been one of the best things to happen to him, a mind that could finally match his. Then Jack had found her, working at that temp agency again with no knowledge of how great she really was.

All of this combined to drive him to drinking again. The saying went, once an addict, always an addict. He and John had thought themselves gods in the old days, drinking and partying until they were arrested. Then they would break out some how and do it all over again. When he left John, Jack had sworn to never just crawl into the bottle again. But this was too much.

All his talk about Torchwood fighting to save humanity and prepare it for the future was just crap. When the Daleks came all they could do was sit and watch. It had taken a rouge politician and an ex-companion to finally get help. And then The Doctor had come, destroying the hostile fleet and returning all of the stolen planets to their origins. Donna Nobel had been the only reason any of them were alive, and now she was a normal human again.

Alarms sounded and Ianto poked his head in. Jack could see the concern on his lover's face,"We have activity on the rift monitors."

Jack nodded and grabbed his tactical harness before following Ianto out of the office. Gwen was studying the screens and typing furiously.

Jack moved up behind her and glanced at the screen,"Report."

Gwen hit a few more keys and turned to face him, noting the slight smell of alcohol coming from him,"He's coming in. Looks like he's going going to land right on top of us."

The mention of Him brought Jack's inebriated mind to full alert. He pulled his service revolver and ran for the exit. Gwen looked at Ianto questioningly who shrugged. They both grabbed their weapons vests and followed their commander.

The TARDIS had just finished materializing when the trio of remaining agents reached the surface. Jack ran right up to the doors and waited for them to open thinking about the best way to get information out of the Time Lord.

As the doors opened he reached out and took The Doctor by the lapels of his suit, heaving him against the door frame with the pistol pointing at the Time Lords jaw.

The Doctor blinked for a second before saying,"Hi Jack."

"Is that all you can say? You destroyed one of the greatest humans of all time." Jack was fuming with barely suppressed rage as he accused The Doctor.

Then he felt something hit his chest and was thrown backwards into the opposite side of the door frame. The distance was short enough that he still had the reach to hold onto The Doctor but whatever the invisible force that had moved Jack now pinned his arms to his side. A black robed figure stepped into view, causing Gwen and Ianto to raise their weapons.

Erwin glanced in their direction, sending what appeared to be a small fireball down the barrel of each pistol. The grips began to glow a dull orange, forcing their wielders to drop them reflexively. He looked at the Doctor,"So much for friends." He said as he used the forcefield holding Jack to shove him out the door.

The Doctor held up his hand,"No, it's okay. He's just upset about someone we once knew."

Looking at Jack the harrowed Time Lord continued,"I had no choice Jack. The knowledge in her head was killing her. The only thing I could do was to bury all trace on her life with me behind multiple layers of mental blocks, otherwise she would be gone forever."

Jack looked at his former traveling companion, seeing the endless pain in his eyes,"I'm sorry. I know how you hate to loose them. And for her to be alive, but beyond reach, I know what that's like." Jack holstered his piece and walked toward his old friend.

They hugged one another and let the pain dilute through sharing. When they separated The Doctor said,"So, how long have I been gone?"

"About two weeks. I wasn't expecting you back so soon."

The time lord tilted his head,"Yeah, well. I try to steer clear of this rock as much as possible these days. Don't want to interfere with the time line any more than is unavoidable."

Jack snorted at the reference to his own organizations creation,"Sure, and with the way you drive I'm surprised you always hit the same spot when you come to Cardiff."

"Well, that's more of the TARDIS homing in on the rift." The Doctor stepped to the side and gestured toward Erwin and Andria,"These are my newest friends. Found them drifting in deep space and decided to help them out. They seem to be a long way from home and I thought you might be willing to lend me some rift energy to get them back on track."

Jack looked at The Doctor like he was crazy."How far away from home are they that you need help getting them there?" Jack now looked questioningly at Erwin an Andria,"And what was that you hit us with?"

Erwin stepped forward,"First let me introduce us. My name is Erwin, Technomage from the mid-twenty second century of my reality." He gave Andria a gentle squeeze,"And this is Andria , genetics specialist from the mid-twenty fourth century of her reality. To answer your other question that was a basic force field push and a heat spell."

The whole Torchwood team was unsure how to take this answer. They had all seen things so strange that normal people usually just made up some sort of explanation to maintain their standard world view. But this was beyond even their experiences.

Jack decided to stop being rude and return the courtesy,"I'm Captain Jack Harkness, leader of Torchwood-3." He held out his hand and The Doctor shook his head.

"Jack, no flirting."

"You always accuse me of that when I'm just trying to say hello."

"Because that's flirting for you."

Erwin ignored the apparently well worn by play and took the offered hand. Andria followed suite and Jack kiss the back of her hand before continuing the introductions.

Jack gestured toward his two subordinates,"The lovely lady is Gwen Cooper Williams and the hunky beefcake is Ianto Jones."

Ianto retorted indignantly,"Hey, that's sexual harassment." His smile took the edge out of what could have been a serious statement.

Jack grinned back,"Report me and you get to replace RetCon I would have to use."

The Doctor decided to put his two cents in,"Jack, you're not still using that stuff?"

"Most advanced memory alteration drug I can manufacture in the here and now."

Erwin spoke,"Does anyone else think we should go somewhere a little more private."

The Doctor answered,"Quite right. Jack, leed the way."

As they started away Andria looked at the TARDIS,"Isn't that going to draw attention?"

Jack decided to take this one,"What, a big blue box just sitting on the sidewalk?" Andria nodded,"Not a chance. Thing has a perception filter, only people He wants to can see it. Everyone else just walks around it." With that the group continued toward the water front.

ooo000OOO000ooo

Jack sat behind his desk with the Doctor examining the contents of several jars on his shelves."So why are you really helping them?"

The Doctor frowned,"They give me an uneasy feeling. Erwin's technology could be horribly destructive in the wrong hands, and that's assuming his are the right hands."

"I could see where he could make you nervous. I've never seen a shield push executed so expertly. And that heat 'spell' as he called it could be useful in any number of situations."

"But his ship acts as an amplifier."The Doctor said,"He could have the power to devastate a whole planet. I just want him out of here for his own good and ours."

Jack could not believe how scared his old friend sounded,"You know, the last time I heard that much fear in your voice was just before that year that never happened."

"Even I can't explain it Jack. I just get this feeling that there's something dark inside him. Something he may not even be aware of. So I just want him gone, as soon as possible."

Jack leaned forward,"So let's talk about that."

ooo000OOO000ooo

Meanwhile, just outside, Ianto was serving coffee for their guests,"So how long have you two been together?" He asked.

Andria took a sip,"About a month. We meet during an engineering accident."

"By engineering accident she means she tried to fry me with a plasma relay" Erwin put in, ducking under the swipe from his lover.

Gwen laughed lightly,"That's priceless. More people should meet from chance encounters like that." Her and Andria giggled.

Erwin and Ianto looked at each other, not quiet getting the joke. Ianto recovered first,"You've got to be kidding Gwen. He could have been seriously injured."

Andria smiled even broader,"Not my man. He went into a room filled with the stuff. Should have vaporized any normal human, but he walked out just fine."

Ianto stared in disbelief so Erwin decided to pick up the thread,"It's true. I can resist most forms of damage. I just like ribbing her about it too much to let it go. Makes for a wonderful ice breaker during that awkward silence following introductions."

Gwen spoke up,"Well it works" Then she motioned for them all to sit, leaving the couch for the couple. Turning to them she spoke,"So, why don't you tell us a little about where you two are from?"

Andria motioned for Erwin to begin and he launched into a general history and current events summery of his home reality. At questions he elaborated and when he got to the part where he was thrown directly into Voyager's path he automatically provided extra detail. Then Andria took the floor and told them about the Federation and their interactions with other groups throughout the galaxy. Then she detailed the events of the last few years of her life. Voyager being dragged across the galaxy, fighting almost constantly in their quest to reach earth. She provided descriptions of all the various species they had encountered leading up to their encounter with Erwin. Then she switched to a more personal account of the last weeks she had spent in her home reality and their eventual return to earth. When she finished her tale she turned to Gwen,"That's about it. Then The Doctor found us and we came here."

Erwin spoke up again,"So, what does this organization of your's do?"

Gwen looked at Ianto, who gestured at the Hub around them and nodded. Then she turned back to their guests,"We track down aliens on Earth. If their behaving themselves , we send them on their way. But most of them are here to cause trouble. Those are the ones we lock up, if we can, and confiscate their technology. We also have to deal with the fact that this city is built right on top of a rift in space-time. We constantly have stuff popping up from all sorts of places and times."

Erwin leaned forward, curiously asking,"What kind of species have you encountered?" At a look from the group he elaborated,"I just want to see if their are any similarities between this reality and mine. Or between this one and yours."He said looking at Andria.

Gwen and Ianto then started listing all the species they could remember. After five minutes of this they resorted to pulling up the files of all the species Torchwood had encountered in it's entire existence. They were just laughing over the story of some alien creature that had landed on Earth over a hundred years ago when Jack and The Doctor finally emerged from the office,"Having fun gang?" Jack asked with a soft grin on his face.

The whole group turned as one and Gwen launched into defensive mode,"Oh Jack, we were just showing Erwin and Andria here all the aliens Torchwood has seen since it was created."

Jack strode over to the bank of screens and glanced at them,"Yeah, I remember that one. Real pain in the butt to take down. Not to mention a few other places."

No one in the group missed the reference to Jack having been the one to handle that particular case. Andria was the only one having problems believing their host could be so old. Sure, Vulcans lived for a long time, but this guy looked human in every way. Then Erwin's extra senses registered a strange energy chasing between his cells. This was something he had never seen before, self sustaining repairing energy. Andria looked at him with a questioning look. Erwin shrugged,"He could be. I don't claim to know everything about any reality but mine."

Jack looked at him with a smile,"You know, I haven't heard that kind of conceit out of anyone but him."He hooked a thumb at The Doctor.

The Doctor looked indignant, but spoke in a playful tone,"It's not conceit if you do know everything." Both he and Jack laughed at the well worn joke. Their mirth was cut short by the alarms going off throughout The Hub.

Jack said unconcernedly,"You just can't go anywhere without something going wrong."

ooo000OOO000ooo

Sorry it took so long to get an update. Between the new job and a touch of writers block this took a lot longer than I had hoped. It's also shorter than I would have liked, but I didn't want to get into combat in the same chapter I do a lot of introductions. Hope you enjoy it.

Wonder if the flaming committe is going to take another swipe at this one.

Thanks to my wife for reviewing for me.


	7. Chapter 7: Fear

Through a Hyperspace Looking Glass Chapter 7: Fear

"Oh crap!" Jack said as he pulled up the video from the deep cellars. A thin man dressed enterially in tight black leather was marching toward the camera.

"What's wrong Jack?" Gwen asked, looking over his shoulder. The guy looked pretty good but something about him made her uneasy.

"It's Joseph Howard, former time agent."

"Oh crap!" Gwen and Ianto said at once.

"Worse. This guy was thrown out of the agency for excessive measures. He once set off a nova just to flush out a suspect."

"That's insane!" Andria gasped.

"That's not what's worrying me. This guy can wirelessly access any electronics within fifty feet. If he can get to the first level of cells he can break the temporal lock down."

"How did he get here?" Erwin asked.

"He was captured by Torchwood shortly before I was recruited. I have no idea how they took him down without vaporizing him but they did. When I took over I reset the timer on his cryo module to let him out about three minutes before the earth explodes." He typed some keys, bringing up a diagnostic log."Looks like the temporal lock down during the Dalek incident tripped the timer."

"So, how do we deal with him?" Gwen asked, strapping her tac harness on again.

"I'm not sure. He has sub-dermal armor and an enhanced metabolism that allows him to repair light damage quickly."

"Maybe I can help." All eyes turned to look at Erwin as he spoke,"Just tell me whether or not you want him alive."

Jack smiled,"He should have been killed, not captured. He has no place in this universe."

"Done." Erwin put a hand to Andria's cheek and then headed for the stairs.

ooo000OOO000ooo

Erwin sealed the last door behind himself and welded the bolts closed. No matter what happened he had to hold this door, past the next staircase was close enough for Howard to access the main network and release the lock down.

Then he went to work, if the estimates held he would have five minutes to prepare the hall for his guest. First he established three layers of one way force fields along the area, then he vanished and reappeared in six different places as holograms were activated. Finally he dimmed the lights and spawned twelve small flyer holo-demons. With his interference set he settled back into the shadows and started searching for his opponent.

ooo000OOO000ooo

"What the hell?" Jack asked as the entire group watched the video feed."Is it just me or did he just become six of him?"

"Did you know he could do that?" Gwen asked Andria.

"I've seen him use that ship of his to take down two Borg cubes on his own. But nothing like this" She answered.

"What?" The Doctor asked.

"The Borg are a long story. But the cubes he destroyed were each about a thousand times the size of his ship." She answered,"Then there was the time he walked into a ten-thousand degree plasma injector room without any protection other than his personal shield."

"Damn, and you brought him in here?" Jack turned to the Doctor.

"I had no idea, but I did say this guy doesn't belong in this universe." The Doctor put up his hands to ward off the verbal assault.

"Well, I just hope he doesn't cause too much damage down there." Jack returned his view to the screen as the door at the far end opened.

ooo000OOO000ooo

Joseph Howard was pissed. He had been put on ice for way too long, and now it was time for some pay back. He opened the door and was rather surprised to see six copies of the exact same person standing in a room filled with so much EM interference it made his eyes hurt.

Whoever this Torchwood shit was he was going to regret getting in the way of Captain Joseph Howard.

ooo000OOO000ooo

Erwin finally found the entry point into this guy's wetware. His copies giggled as he found a simple trinary system.

"What are you laughing at chrome dome?" Howard growled out.

The idiot couldn't feel Erwin gently inserting a cyber-virus into his buffer. In about five minutes this guy would be cowering on the floor from images only he could see.

"Are you going to answer me or not?" Howard was getting aggravated with the silent treatment.

"I'm just thinking how tasty my holo-demons are going to find you."

"Bring it on."

The demons sped forward, not even bothering to dodge the former time agent's swings. One of the demons solidified and bit into the agent's shoulder. He howled as hot pain shot through his entire upper quarter. The organelles ripped through his armor and got into his circulatory system. The agent let out another howl and rushed at the nearest copy.

He was rather unsurprised to see his fist pass through the holo and sink into the wall behind it. The illusion vanished and another demon bit into his extended arm.

He ran at the next illusion, passing right through the force field. Erwin raised an eyebrow from his hiding place and dropped the effort of keeping the fields up. He redoubled his efforts to hack the guys robust but simple firewall.

Howard punched into another copy and was rewarded with six more bites. The organelles in his system were reaching critical mass, soon it would be too late.

After destroying the third illusion the angered time agent could feel his movements getting sluggish, like it was taking more effort to make his muscles respond.

Erwin dropped the last of his effects and stepped out in front of his would be assailant. The time agent staggered toward the new target and was about to lay the little shit out when he felt his whole body lock up.

Erwin started circling his victim,"So, what should I do with you now? Jack told me enough about you to give me every reason to kill you."

Howard's eyes went wide at the name of his former associate. If Jack was in charge of this place then he was totally screwed,"But wait, we can work something out."

"Quiet." Howard's voice died as his vocal cords stopped working."In about ten seconds you will see things that will drive you insane, just before you explode."

Erwin turned and unsealed the door leading to the upper levels."So, if you will excuse me, better luck in your next life."

He closed the door as the screams started.

ooo000OOO000ooo

The entire team watching the video feed was stunned to see the former time agent start screaming as Erwin left the room. He fell to his knees, clawing out his eyes in a spray of blood. Then there was a flash and the video went dead as the promised explosion consumed Joseph Howard.

A moment later Erwin reappeared from the dungeons looking tired and strained. He walked over and collapsed onto the couch.

Andria finally broke the spell of shock and rushed to him,"Are you okay Erwin?"

"Will be, just as soon as Jack releases the lock down and I can reconnect to my ship."

She looked at him with mixed emotions,"You know, this is the third time you've collapsed today. It's starting to get old."

He grinned,"Rough day." He swiveled his head to see Jack,"If you don't mind."

Jack blinked for a moment,"Oh!" He punched some keys and the Hub rejoined the regular flow of time.

Erwin seemed to perk up at once, but only shifted enough to lay his head in Andria's lap,"If you don't mind, my dear, I'm just gonna take a little nap now." He was asleep before she could protest. She did the only thing she could and started stroking his scoured head as he slept.

Gwen was torn between the sweet scene of obvious love and the absolutely calm brutality shown on the monitor. She turned to see the other three men still staring in shock. She nudged Ianto and motioned for them to head into the next room. Ianto tapped Jack and Jack grabbed The Doctor. The four moved into the conference room before speaking.

"Damn,"Ianto started,"I would hate to be on the receiving end of his anger."

"You can say that again." Gwen agreed as he started pouring coffee."Who knew a human could handel that kind of power."

"He can't." The Doctor said.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked as he motioned for the group to sit.

"He has a very advanced set of bioware implanted in his body. It runs parallel to his spine, as well as down each arm. It uses some kind of zero point energy generation to produce those effects." He took a sip of coffee,"There are only two drawbacks I can find. One is the terrible concentration it takes to cast his spells. And the other is a tendency toward darkness."

"Darkness?" Gwen asked.

"It influences him to do things in the most unkind way possible. He doesn't have to worry about it most of the time, but with a situation like that, he can either fight it or go with it."

"So that display was not his normal personality?" Ianto inquired.

"I don't think so."Jack said,"He seems like a good enough guy. You two were laughing with him just before this happened. Did you think he was capable of what he did?" Gwen and Ianto shook their heads. Jack continued,"That's what we mean. He is a nice guy, but if you piss him off, or threaten his friends, his bioware shifts his tendencies in that direction."

The four sat in silence for a long moment until Ianto set his cup down,"I'm gonna get us some pizza,"He said standing up."What does everyone want?"

ooo000OOO000ooo

"Thanks for the help Jack, Doctor." Erwin and Andria shook hands with the pair before climbing into his ship and lifting. The quantum filament had formed just on the other side of Luna and should pull itself in behind them.

"What do you think the next reality will hold?" Andria asked as she hugged him.

"Who knows. But with our luck it'll be trouble."

"Nothing we can't handle, I'm sure."

"I hope so, but if we keep going like this we will eventually find ourselves up against an unsurmountable obstacle."

"Do you think it was smart to let them have all those plans?" She asked as they sat on the couch, preparing for the jump.

"They did help us, and it will be at least thirty years before they can use it. Unless they get another brain on the team like that last one." He initiated the jump.

"Whatever is next, here we go."

ooo000OOO000ooo

Here's chapter seven. Sorry about the long delay, but had some others to work on.

Thanks to my wife for reviewing for me.


	8. Chapter 8: The Covenant

Through a Hyperspace Looking Glass Chapter 8: The Covenant

The Prophet of Fortitude was a brutal leader. He had no problem using all of the forces at his disposal, even the exiled Brutes. The over-aggressive, cold weather, warriors had been demoted when the Elites proved their ability to operate more efficiently. Not only did the long necked soldiers complete missions with fewer casualties, they had unquestionable loyalty.

The Brutes had a tendency to loose three quarters of their troops just to achieve the same objective. In addition they only seemed loyal when they had enough enemies to kill.

Fortitude found them to be good disposable forces, and on the off chance that they actually achieved the objective he could ship the survivors to the next battle. Then the Elites could secure the location and allow the engineers to begin their work.

Right now the Prophet was floating toward his next conquest. A small planet on the inner edge of the habitability zone for Grunts. Setting up another colony for the little cannon fodder race would shorten supply lines considerable and increase their troop pool. The planet just had to be cleansed of its current inhabitants, a proto-reptilian species of limited technology.

Suddenly a ball of writhing purple fire appeared not far from their present course. The flame eventually dissipated to reveal a sleek arrowhead of black metal. The form drifted for a moment before it angled away from the fleet on a circular path.

Aboard the small ship two humans were studying holographic images of the sensor returns. They were silent for a long moment before Erwin spoke,"Doesn't look good. Their not human to start with , and that whole fleet looks like battleships."

Andria shook her head,"I was hoping to find someone friendly to compare notes with in this reality."

"I've already started haling them, but no response on anything we can detect. Might not use" He paused as a radio signal started hitting his hull,"Looks like their responding after all."

The technomage waved his arm over the display and it morphed into the image of a very frail, alien, form. His translators picked apart the language easily enough and started the playback in English."This is the Prophet of Fortitude. You have violated the space of the Holy Covenant using some form of demonic magic and shall be cleansed for your transgressions. Hold position and do not attempt evasion and your death will be quick."

"A bit full of himself, isn't he?" The stacked redhead asked as she sat on a grav couch while Erwin started bringing the ships engines up to full power.

"Their already charging weapons. Looks like some sort of plasma ball throwers. Heh, I wonder if they even realize that they just declared war on a vastly superior force. Of two." Erwin was smiling as he took his position in the center of the cavernous control room. The walls dissolved, displaying the outside environment so his passenger could see what was going on.

"Maybe you should teach them a lesson in proper first contact protocol." Andria said as she felt herself sink deeper into the couch to prevent her going flying from any sudden maneuvers.

"Quiet right, let's go."

The sleek form of the small ship shot toward the Covenant fleet just as they launched their first volley. Twenty balls of white hot plasma shot toward the technomage as he made what appeared to be a suicide run. What no one on the Covenant vessels was expecting was for the small craft to not only dodge the plasma shots, but to capture and drag them in a containment field behind it.

As the strange ship came within range of the first battleship it threw the mass of plasma against the target. The Eternal Struggle had no chance of evading the energy packet and was struck on it's port bow. The shields there flared briefly before failing and the remaining high energy gas quickly melted through the armor. It continued on into the heart of the ship, breeching several plasma conduits along the way which added even more damage to the effect. Finally a fusion bottle was struck by the deadly mass of ions and ceased to exist in an instant. With no time to divert the fusing material to other reactors it was released on the spot, transforming the Eternal Struggle into a small sun.

Erwin was paying little heed to the death throws of the battleship as he had three more to get through before he reached the command ship. He quickly closed with the next one and started savaging their plasma lines on the surface of the ship. This lead to multiple secondary explosions as the leaking plasma melted it's way back into the ship it had come from. This procedure was repeated on another ship before The Covenant responded by launching fighters, bulbous bodied craft armed with plasma weapons. The smaller craft poured out of the mother ships by the hundreds, maneuvering to surround their target. As the first wave was readying to attack, lightning arced from the nose of the technomage's vessel to the closest enemy ship. From that ship it jumped through the hull to the seven ships flanking it. This group arced to dozens more and this pattern continued, with no damage being incurred until three quarters of the Covenant fleet was linked by the energy network. Then Erwin increased the power.

Hundreds of small flares went off in the space near a small black ship that seemed to be made of material that sucked in all light. Each flare was a fighter becoming one more casualty incurred by the Prophet of Fortitude. Hundreds more were caught by the massive explosion and disabled by a combination of heat, pressure and EMP. Within seconds of their launch, ninety percent of the fighters were either expanding balls of plasma, or worthless junk that might be recovered if the fleet could deal with this one demon.

ooo000OOO000ooo

Fortitude slammed his fists on the controls of his chair, causing a slight bauble of confusion in the machine."Bring the main drive on line. Get us out of here." The words were acid on his tongue, but he had not survived this long by making stupid decisions. He was the oldest of the Prophets, remembering conquests beyond number. He would come back for this demon, but first he needed a chance to regroup and call in reinforcements.

"Prophet, the drive won't engage. When the demon came into existence, it somehow managed to scatter the filaments. Combined with the gravity well of the planet we are approaching, there is no way for us to escape." The second in command reported. The Elite had been with the Prophet for a long time, and knew that being honest was the best option. It may still cost him his head, but the commander was less likely to punish him for a failure beyond his control.

The Prophet sighed,"Very well. Launch all available craft to distract the demon, and have the other battleships turn to engage as well. Then lay in a course away from the gravity well and the enemy craft, we will need to sacrifice some so that we can return with a force capable of avenging them."

"Yes, My Lord."

ooo000OOO000ooo

The Covenant fleet turned ponderously toward their assailant, bringing all of their weapons to bear. The extra weight of fire proved futile as the small ship charged headlong for the command ship. Plasma blasts were carelessly redirected into the paths of oncoming ships while lightning arced through squadrons before they exploded.

As the bulk of the attack group lay in peaces Erwin activated the warp drive for a short hop that brought his ship right alongside the fleeing command vessel. An energy packet blasted into the field protecting the hanger bay, dissipating the barrier and allowing him to slip into the empty space.

Small arms fired plasma toward the invading craft that was tossed back at their creators to cause even more death. Crystals stuck into the surface of the technomage's ship, causing a slight ripple with each impact before they were adsorbed by the material. Even the devastating fuel rod guns of the hunters proved ineffectual against the surface of the ship, causing not even so much as a charred spot.

Methodically Erwin cleared the deck of all hostiles. Those that did not use plasma weapons were frozen, vaporized, electrocuted, imploded, exploded, or simply dismembered, as the whim hit him. With no further sign of attack forthcoming Erwin turned the nose of his ship toward the command deck and began melting the intervening bulkheads.

ooo000OOO000ooo

Fortitude could not believe what he was seeing. Half of his fleet, a mass of ships that could have vaporised the surface of a planet, was completely decimated. The other half was adrift with large holes blown through them, mostly by their own weapons.

Now the demon was threatening his very life, cutting through the super hard bulkheads like they were tissue before a laser scalpel. That scalpel was being wielded by a maniac who had no regard for the survival of the patient as he cut through major circuit pathways and minor coolant runs.

The Prophet was shaken from his thoughts by one of the elites,"Prophet. The demon has infiltrated our network. The controlling mind is being ravaged while our files are being copied and infected."

"Impossible." Fortitude snapped. He took a moment to survey the damage,"Isolate the control circuits before he can penetrate them."

"I'm trying Excellency, but all forms of defense are quickly overcome." The controller responded.

"Then put all the systems under local control and sever the connections. All of them but the ones leading from here to the main drive. Do it quickly you fool, before he can disable the function."

"Yes, sir."

ooo000OOO000ooo

Throughout the ship systems overloaded or shut down from being put under the control of infected computer nodes. The entire structure groaned as huge pieces blew away into space. But the damage was not random. The central core maintained at least three layers of integrity and the slipspace drive was never compromised. At the same time the rest of the ship depressurized, killing every crew member from the harmless engineers to the nearly indestructible hive organisms known as Hunters.

Even through all of this Erwin continued the assault, using the last open wireless link to infiltrate the mainframe while he methodically cut his way deeper into the dying behemoth. With the alien AI dismantled he carefully built a new controlling program while concealing the fact from any who might be watching. Just as the last wall parted to reveal the creature that had been stupid enough to underestimate him, he technically had control of what was left of the ship.

ooo000OOO000ooo

Fortitude gave the order to fire at the abomination the moment it pierced the wall. Plasma and crystal sailed toward the destructive shape. Two fuel rod guns fired in unison from the last pair of hunters alive on the ship. The grand total of this hail of high energy projections and explosives was nil.

The small ship waited for the enemy to deplete their ammo and then proceeded to disable the entire force with carefully calculated and targeted lightning strikes. As the Prophet slumped out of his grav chair a shape appeared before him. The creature was bipedal, with long black robes and no distinguishing features within the shadows of its hood.

The creature spoke with an almost unimaginable amount of malice in its voice,"You fool. Did you actually think you could defeat me."

Fortitude pushed himself up,"Demon. You will perish before the might of the Covenant. I will personally bring all of my forces to hunt you down and banish you back to the hell you came from."

Erwin threw his head back, letting the hood fall, and gave out a cold cackle. When fear had spread into the hearts of all the creatures there he spoke,"You could bring your forces from across the galaxy to bear on me and still not win. My suggestion is that if we ever cross paths again, you turn tail and run. Just like you did this time."

The image of the technomage vanished in a plume of fire. Then the small ship turned and flew from the ship at full speed. Erwin had planted two kinds of virus that day. One would pass through the ships of the Covenant fleet and in time disable them all. The other would circulate on the words of the soldiers, and with much exaggeration, cause them to falter the next time they encountered a human ship.

As the flag ship slipped away from the encounter Erwin stood with a satisfied smirk on his face."Maybe they'll have better manners next time. But I doubt it."

"They will still be afraid that the next encounter they have could be more humans." Andria said."Should be enough to give them pause."

"That's wishful thinking, especially with their history. That frail little shit's race has been conquering for so long that the beginning has fallen into myth." Erwin triggered the jump drive and the purple funnel formed once more."Let's just hope they don't decide to do something stupid to the humans in this reality."

The sleek black arrowhead of a ship dove into the vortex, and once more into the unknown.

ooo000OOO000ooo

Sorry for the long wait.

Thanks to Birga for reviewing for me.


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